Sziget Festival – Part Four

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to another Friday, to my blog and, believe it or not, the end of August. Can you believe it’s really nearly September? Because I can’t. I mean, today was my last day at work and in three weeks I’ll already be on my way to London. How crazy is that? I can’t believe it’s all happening so fast. But on the other hand, I’m also very very very excited. I’ve dreamed about living in London for over eight years and now it’s really finally happening. To say that I’m almost bursting of happiness would be an understatement. Which also goes for how I’m feeling right now and regarding what I want to tell you guys all about today. Because today, we’re proudly continuing the Sziget festival series and I couldn’t be any happier about it. I hope so far you’ve also enjoyed reading about my time at the festival and that you’re just as much looking forward to hearing all about day 6 as I am to sharing it all with you. It was a phenomenal day. Please enjoy.

Day 6

It all started off with me waking up and immediately planning my outfit. It had to be a good one, a fairy-tale-like one, because it would be the day we’d finally be seeing the angel Florence Welch, aka Florence + The Machine, who is the ultimate fairy, let’s be honest. So, the outfit had to be good. And practical, because it would also be a day of actually sprinting from one gig to another. It was the most packed day of the whole week, I think in total we went to seven different shows. Yes, you read that right. SEVEN. In one single day. You can probably imagine now in what kind of stress we were on that day. I mean, it was the best stress you can think of, but it was still stress. Stress from excitement. I don’t know.

Despite the heat though, I was extremely looking forward to all of the shows, especially to Florence and to Tom Odell and Catfish and The Bottlemen and probably most of all Boy Pablo. I actually found him, or let’s rather say the band, because of the lineup, while I was checking out all the acts. I fell in love immediately. The music they make is exactly what I usually like to listen to. It just fits perfectly. And little did I know that that gig would be one of the funniest ones I’ve ever been to.

But before I get into this, let’s first start right at the beginning. Not to be dramatic or anything, but I think that Monday was actually the hottest day of the whole week. And after already having gone through five days of music and the sun trying to burn us all alive, you could definitely feel how we all were dreaming about a few clouds popping up here and there. Do you know these pictures of the Sahara where all the wild animals, Zebras, Lions and so on, are all lying under the trees, hiding in the few spots of shade they could find? That’s exactly how the island looked when we got there. Everyone was lying under a tree, either asleep or listening to the band playing on the stage in front of them. And here comes another aspect of why I love Sziget so much – the actual island is freaking beautiful. It’s literally the perfect place for a festival. A huge park that has everything you need and that’s located in the middle of Budapest, but that can still be closed off from the rest of the city. Honestly, it’s absolutely perfect. And definitely much better than just that plain field you usually get with most festivals.

And as it was so hot and we were one of those people who were going into their sixth day, we did just the same as them and sat down underneath a tree and just listened to the band playing in front of us. And shortly after that, it was already time for us to head to the main stage to see Tom Odell. That show was especially cool for me, because I had already seen him back in 2016 when I was still living in Berlin, and because he also went to BIMM. A guy, who had also gone to my university, was playing on the main stage at my favourite festival. You can’t dream up stuff like this, I swear. Obviously, he was absolutely amazing. I don’t know how he does it, but whenever I hear his voice live, I immediately get goosebumps everywhere. The power he has.

Unfortunately, we had to leave midway through his set, because Boy Pablo were just about to start playing and they were my number one priority on that day. And boy, they did not let me down. I can’t really think of a gig where I laughed that much in the space of one hour. I’m not even kidding, I really cried tears from laughing, that’s how weird and funny these guys were. I can’t really pinpoint one specific thing that made the whole gig so funny, but I can tell you who the definite highlight was – Erik, their pianist and background singer, who, funnily enough, did much more than that on that day. He played the triangle, the tambourine, the bongos, heck, he even played some maracas-like-shaker. This guy did everything. And on top of that he literally had the most fun on stage and danced and jumped around like crazy. At one point, he literally put on some freaky sunglasses and put his towel on his head and into a turban. That’s how he played one song. And I might add that some white shorts and shoes were the only other pieces of clothing he was wearing. I almost fell over from laughing. I also have to mention that all of these guys are around my age and just getting started as a band and you could actually see how much they were enjoying themselves. They even had a dance-off on stage, during their set. How crazy is that? Honestly, I absolutely adored them. And taking in all that happiness in that tent made me love them even more and made me want to see them again as soon as possible. After over two weeks that have passed, their concert still remains one of the highlights of the whole week. I’ll definitely never forget that set. Never ever.

But of course, the fun didn’t just end there. After that, we went over to another stage to see Bosse, a german band I’ve been wanting to see for quite some time now, and then Catfish and The Bottlemen, who were absolutely fantastic as well. I remember standing there, watching their set and finally realizing that they were exactly what had still been missing from the lineup – good, old indie rock. That’s what I had been secretly craving the whole week and they gave me exactly what I needed.

In total, these are all the amazing acts we got to see on that day:

I Love You Honey Bunny
Big Thief
Tom Odell
Boy Pablo
Bosse
Catfish and The Bottlemen
Florence + The Machine

Obviously, Florence was the ultimate highlight, right after Boy Pablo. God, she was absolutely breathtaking. Thankfully, mum and I managed to get ourselves a good spot to watch the show from, right at the second barrier, and it was just so lovely. I felt like I was in my own safe space as soon as she got on stage. The whole crowd became one big family, with Florence as our queen. I loved the energy she brought and how she interacted with us. I felt so included, like I was part of the show, part of the magic. And it might not be that relevant, but I absolutely adored the dress she was wearing. Just like I said at the beginning of the post – she’s a fairy. She doesn’t just sound and look like a fairy, she really is one. And her voice is the most magical thing of them all. The concert wasn’t just a gig like any other. It was an experience. An inclusive experience, full of love and freedom and magic. I loved every second of it. And I need to thank Florence and her phenomenal band for turning this Monday into such a fairytale-like evening.

And that pretty much was the whole day number 6. Besides the concerts, mum and I also got to screenprint our own shirts, which was super cool as well. I’ve actually been proudly wearing the shirt every few days and the whole thing also got me into the idea of cutting all the shirts I’m not so keen on wearing, but would definitely wear if they just looked a bit different, even if they were just a bit cropped. So, thanks for giving me that idea, Sziget.

Just like all the previous days, I absolutely loved spending time on this island, surrounded by happiness and love and music and people just like me. No wonder I‘m addicted to concerts and festivals. Why leave heaven? And while we were walking back home, away from the very same island, the very same heaven, I knew that the last day would be the one last high I had been waiting for this whole time. The day I’d finally be seeing Twenty One Pilots, my boys, Ty and Josh. The excitement was through the roof. And, without exaggeration, it also is right now, because I can’t wait to tell you all about that day. It was unbelieveable. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to post anything on Monday, as I’ll be away from home, but you can already prepare yourselves for next Friday. And until then, I hope you enjoyed reading all about day 6 of Sziget. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below and I wish you all a lovely weekend and week. And, of course, thanks for reading. x